The Desert Rose Band - 08/28/2008 - The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA
 
Support Band: Whalen
Venue Capacity: 480 (Sold Out)
 
Setlist:
Soundcheck: Bits of Running and Turn, Turn, Turn
01) She Don't Love Nobody
02) Love Reunited
03) He's Back and I'm Blue
04) Leave this Town
05) Time Between
06) For the Rich Man
07) Summer Wind
08) Start All Over Again
09) Once More
10) In Another Lifetime
11) Hello Trouble
12) Together Again
13) Ashes of Love
14) I Still Believe in You
15) One Step Forward
16) Wheels
17) Wait a Minute
18) You Ain't Goin Nowhere
19) Will this be the Day?
20) Encore - Price I Pay
21) Sin City
 
Pictures: (Special thanks to Stephanie Carta)
 
 
Review:
First of all, I’ll give you a technical rundown. John has his signature Takamine for flatpicking, his signature Custom Telecaster, a doubleneck
Danelectro which had a 12-string neck on top and a six string bass on the bottom, a Chet Atkins Gretsch with P-90 in the neck and the fancy inlays, and an F-style mandolin. On One Step Forward, for example, he was playing the bassriff, then switching to the 12 string for the rhythm and break. Hello Trouble was Tele twang heaven and both nights were played pretty much note for note as you hear on the album. There was a lot of improvising and re-interpretation too. A few licks somewhere between electric gypsy jazz and rock. He was razzing Chris on You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere with machine guns like at the appropriate place. That was funny. I’ll never heard that song the same again. It was a treat to be a part of the great “sing along” tradition for that one. And Sin City and Wheels were given a classic treatment by John and JayDee.

I’d never seen Jay Dee Maness before (saw them with Tom Brumley the first time around), and I was honor to meet him too.. a very nice gentleman. The transitions and phrasing between John’s and Jay Dee’s breaks were perfect, and this is a hallmark of their sound. On In Another Lifetime at the Coach House John was having some technical trouble and he pointed to Jay Dee to take the first break and Jay Dee stepped right it.. then John took the second break after trading from the Gretsch to the Tele and they both saved the song. Start All Over Again was played on the Gretsch. It was strung rather heavy too, so the tone was fuller than the Tele. John played a lot of double stops and partial
chords that he’s known for and even did a little chord melody solo.

Price I Pay was amazing, especially at the Coach House, and brought he house down. John had a hybrid picking technique where he was using his thumb on the bottom string like a drone, and picking the top strings. I’d never seen thisbefore. He had a multi-effects set up to recreate all the effects which was a little retro and just enough to recreate how the albums sound.

Jay Dee was playing him Emmons with the push pull system which is his trademark sound. I’d seen a video of him with an MSA, so I was wondering which he’d play. The taste of his picking and sweet tone are enough to give me chills down my spine.

Herb was playing an SJ for both shows which was the perfect chunky tone for backup. Herb is not recognized enough for his career, and I realized that after they initially broke up. So this was really the first shows where I really knew where he was coming from.

The vocal were better than the “old days” and I truly mean that. They did three part harmonies, of course on Once More, which was awe inspiring.
Sometimes John would sing a high harmony above Chris and Herb would step back. And Chris and Herb did their “brother duo” sound as well, with Together Again, for example. To be honest I expected some bad notes here and there from guys in their mid 60s. There weren’t any! Both Chris and Herb have lost none of their unique vocal quality and you wouldn’t know the difference between 1988 or 2008.

It was never about the nudie suits or the chart success. It was about these great musicians and the legacy of the music. I think why it survives
from the 60s to this day remaining fresh as ever is because there is no formula for CA country rock like there is for mainstream Nashville pop
music. This band combined honky tone, traditional bluegrass, and folkrock sounds into the most unique mix I've ever heard.

I’m sure I’ll have more to say later.. in summary, it was a dream come true.


-Stephanie Carta-
 
Review:

"Fortune Favors the Brave"

Forget about the Eagles...the Desert Rose Band was - and is - the Golden Rule of California Country Rock. I know Chris Hillman isn't too keen on hyperbole, but if there was just one word to describe the Desert Rose Band"reunion" show at the Coach House Thursday night, it is the word "Phenomenal. A word that I heard time and time again from friends and strangers sitting in the
audience during and after the show.

From the superlative, highly energized music, thecamaraderie of the band, the amazed and extremely pleased looks of the fans in the audience, phenomenal is indeed the word to describe what happened in this normally sleepy South Orange County town.

DRB came, saw, played and conquered. Period.

No need for me to regurgitate the song list as others on the Byrdmaniaxlist have already done so, but almost every single DRB song from the first three albums were on the setlist. (notable exceptions being "Running", which the band rehearsed, "True Love", "You Can Go
Home", "Desert Rose") It not only seemed that the boys - Hillman, Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson, Bill Bryson, Jay Dee Maness and Steve Duncan had no only not missed a lick since 1993, but sounded fresh, spirited, and strong. Songs that come to mind are the crowd pleasing
opener "She Don't Love Nobody", "He's Back and I'm Blue", "Summer Wind", "In Another Lifetime", "Once More", sungby Pedersen, and "One Step Forward", plus the respective Buck Owens and Flying Burrito Brothers tributes
("Together Again", "Hello Trouble", "Wheels" and "Sin City").

One word to describe the show was "phenomenal" - another would be energized, which it was, done to the exquisite harmonies of Hillman, Pedersen and Jorgenson, the chase solos of Jorgenson and Jay Dee Maness, the smooth basslines of Bill Bryson, and the superb, on key drumming of Duncan.

Chris Hillman has always had a keen eye - and ear - for superb guitarists. Think about it. Clarence White, Bernie Leadon, Stephen Stills, Bob Warford, Jim Monahan, and Larry Park - and of course John Jorgenson. I always heard how good Jorgenson was, and had heard him on the DRB cds in my collection, but this was the very first time I had heard him live on in DRB lineup, and I can see why he was a natural and excellent choice for Desert Rose.

I mentioned the Eagles in my header. For those of you who were fortunate to go and see this show, contrast the energy, the love, and the great music with what those other boys are doing these days. In fact, contrast the confident Hillman and those high harmonies of Pedersen and Jorgenson with the rehash of a canned "How Long" sung by Glenn Frey - and without Hillman's old friends Leadon and Meisner to provide the harmonies Don Henley and Tim Schmitt can't or don't seem to deliver. If this was a perfect world, DRB would have it all over the Eagles. No debate, folks.

But I digressed. Herb Pedersen said to me right before the show began that the Belly Up Saloon show, the first time that Desert Rose graced a stage in 15 years was like "Meet the Beatles" - or Beatlemania. It was virtually the same thing Thursday night. Everyone I spoke to - whether they be Byrdmaniaxs from all over the USA, or from overseas, or my good friend Mike "Rhinestone" Johnston, a contemporary of Maness on steel guitar - said that it was as good as it gets. If it was - and it was - this good for the audience, it was the same for the boys on stage. As Hillman commented towards the end of the show: "We (DRB) are having much more fun here playing together on stage than you are having in the audience!"

I concur. While I know the band is playing it low-key, few dates, and just enjoying playing with each other with nothing to prove, I sure hope that they will at least add a couple more Southern Cal dates (both the Malibu and Cerritos Performing Arts Centers come to mind), before they wait
another 10, 15 years. If the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band could sell out Cerritos, I know that the Desert Rose Band could do the same - and more. If they wouldn't be adverse to doing Phoenix, I know two venues where they would go down a storm - the Maricopa County Events Center and the Rhythm
Room.

I will conclude with this thought I've been carrying with me since leaving the Coach House parking lot:

$150 airfare. $70.00 hotel room. $55.00 rental care fare. The opportunity to see and hear one of the greatest California Country bands ever reunited???? PRICELESS!

Thanks so much, Chris, Herb, John, Bill, Jay Dee and Steve. Hope to see you soon - very soon. Can't wait for that LIVE album.

-Alan Rockman-